Definitions of Love
by KittiKat626
Summary: [IchiRuki] What does Love really mean? What happens when Ichigo is forced to write a paper on love . . . and who will he write about? CHAPTER 2 ADDED! — Rukia asks Ichigo what love means.
1. Definitions Of Love

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

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Definitions of Love

Ichigo frowned as he cracked open the cover of the dictionary he had had in his closet for ten years but never used. But, he had been late for English class, and, as such, he had been forced to write a paper on love. The problem was, he didn't know the definition of love. Sure, he knew he loved his family and his mother, but what did it _really_ mean?

Sighing, he flipped his fingers through the pages until he found the 'L' section. Now, just to find that one word in a million. Or thereabouts. Probably not a million . . . but if not, why the hell was the damn book so heavy?

Finally, he found it. It had four different meanings and read:

1:_ A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness. _

2: _A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance. _

3: _To have a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person_

4:_To experience deep affection or intense desire for another._

Sighing, Ichigo grabbed a piece of paper and began scribbling his thoughts out on each meaning and who, family member, friend or any future lover, he would feel that kind of love to. From the first meaning . . . he had to look up several more words, then decided all three. The second one he blushed and quickly scribbled something down he would never let anyone see after putting 'Future Lover'.

The third meaning, he accidentally wrote a name rather than one of the categories he had chosen. Same with the forth, and he didn't realize he had done it until he looked back down, blushing madly, at his paper and quickly erased the simple five letter word off.

Then, groaning, he set to what the hell he was going to write. He would have to choose one of the definitions and go with that, then a person, or made-up character, to write about.

"Forth," he decided aloud, then, began thinking about what he could write about it. He would just take out the 'Intense Desire' part and go with 'Deep Affection'.

Now . . . who did he feel deep affection toward?

He began scribbling out a friend list and wrote 'Yes' or 'No' down beside each name.

Chad: No (Friendship - yes, deep affection - going a _little_ too far)

Inoue: Deep _friendly_ affection

Ishida: No

Tatsuki: Sisterly affection

Keigo: NO

Rukia:

Ichigo paused, his pencil in the air as he began to form the first line on 'No' beside her name. Frowning, he put his pencil in between his teeth and bit on it as he blinked a few times.

_Did_ he feel deep affection toward her? He had even written 'Deep friendly affection' beside Inoue's name, and though he had known her longer, did he really feel more strongly about her than Rukia?

Shaking his head, Ichigo decided mentally, 'No'. He didn't feel more strongly toward Inoue than Rukia. Geez. Rukia even slept in his closet. Which, come to think of it, she was doing right now. She'd been tired when she came home from school, and dropped right off to sleep without so much as a punch in his general direction.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Ichigo slowly formed the three-letter-word down beside Rukia's name.

'Yes'

Feeling strangely like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Ichigo decided to write his report on how he felt about Rukia.

She had crashed into his life, saved his family, lived with him for two months, was taken away, and he fought with all his heart and all of his soul to get her back and to save her from death. And it had hurt him inside every time she told him to go home and forget about her. Even if he wanted to, he probably couldn't. She wasn't someone you could easily forget, and if he had left her, knowing she was going to die, he wouldn't have been able to live with it. Her face and her beautiful eyes would assault his dreams and never let him forget what he had done.

And that was why he didn't go home. He wanted to save her. He didn't need to save her, he _wanted_ to, and _because_ of that, he needed to save her. He had to repay his debt, and maybe, just maybe, do a little extra for her.

Sighing, he realized that he couldn't write everything he had just thought down. Well, he could, but he couldn't turn it in.

Shrugging, Ichigo began writing it down anyway. He needed to get his feelings off of his chest.

And, as he wrote the last word on his paper in neat, small letters, he smiled as he formed the four-letter-word _love_ with his pencil.

Yeah. He loved her.

But there was no way he would ever tell her. Not unless the timing was perfect. Maybe it would be someday. Maybe he would just kiss her and see if she slapped him or made it physically impossible for him to ever father children by kicking him _there_.

Or maybe, she would return the kiss.

And maybe, he wouldn't have a paper to turn in tomorrow because he had filled it with his private, personal thoughts he would never share with the world.

But maybe, one day, he would share them with her.

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GAH! It's fluff again! _(Falls over and _kills_ herself.) _Ahh . . . I did it again . . . _(Whacks her head against the wall for good measure)_

**Please . . . ._(OUCH) Review! . . . (OUCH!)_**

And don't hit your head on the wall. It hurts.


	2. Definitions of Love — II

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to** CrystalRaindrop007** for Beta'ing!

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**Definitions of Love II — What Is Love?**

"Hey Ichigo, what is love?"

Rukia sat at his desk, her legs folded in her lap and her pencil between her teeth as she stared at the blank paper laid out in front of her. Since her pencil was in between her light pink lips, her hands were free to twist her hair between them, and when Ichigo looked over from his book, Rukia smiled innocently.

"Huh? Love ... well, didn't you like ... love your parents or siblings?"

"I don't remember my parents. I was a baby when I went into the Soul Society," Rukia said. Ichigo sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Then ... what about your friends while you were growing up?"

"Like Renji?"

"Guess so."

Ichigo rolled his eyes again and went back to his magazine, somehow, deep in his heart, he hoped her answer was no.

"I dunno. I might have. Define love for me, Ichigo."

"_Fine_. Love is ... Lemme grab the dictionary, Rukia; I don't know, really, how to put it into words."

Rukia nodded and stood from her seat, her bare feet scraping across the carpet as she followed Ichigo to the bookshelf. He sighed and flipped the pages around, trying to find the one he had landed on only few days before while doing his own report. Their teacher made everyone who was late do a report on love; Ichigo had a feeling she had a real lack of a love life herself, and that was why she liked to live through the lives of all her students.

"Here it is. There are four, I'll read 'em: **1)**_ A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness. **2)**_ _A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance. **3)**_ _To have a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person. **4) **To experience deep affection or intense desire for another. _That answer your question?"

"Kinda? First off, what do _ineffable _and _underlying oneness_ mean? Second, I have never had an 'Emotion of _sex and romance_', and I do _not_ have an intense desire for anyone."

Ichigo laughed. "Whatever. Just write about a friend or someone and call it love."

"Can I write about you, then?"

"Huh?"

Ichigo coughed a few times and turned his gaze from Rukia's to hide the blush on his face. Rukia sighed and asked again, "Can I write about you?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Ichigo asked, burying his face in his magazine. Rukia shrugged, her black hair bouncing slightly at the motion. Her pencil dropped from her lips and into her hand as she scraped the eraser absently across the paper a few times.

"You said to write about a friend and call it love, so can't I love you?"

Ichigo's face was bright red a he looked over at Rukia; she had no idea how much he wanted to believe what she had just said.

"I don't know. Can you?"

Suddenly, the conversation had nothing to do with her report. Ichigo's blush had slowly faded and he was now staring into her eyes. She blinked innocently a few times, then bit her lip, turning away from him again. Ichigo mentally slapped himself. Why had he asked that? He would never get an answer from her.

"I don't know."

There was an awkward silence in the room. Only the sound of the pages in the dictionary flipping shattered the silence. Ichigo's ears were red and his mind was no longer focused on his book. When Rukia's voice floated through the room again, Ichigo dared to look up a little.

"We're friends, right?"

"Yeah. Of course we are."

"Is there a way to be more than friends ... without being lovers?"

Ichigo's mouth opened, but then he snapped it shut again. Was there? Sure, he and Rukia seemed to have a bond that was more than friendship, but neither had ever mentioned crossing the line to lovers. Amber eyes stared into violet, and Ichigo's heart sped up.

"I ... I think so."

"Can we? Because ... well," Rukia paused and blushed a little. "I ... I feel different around you then I did around anyone I've ever known. Nii-sama, Renji, my friends ... anyone. It's weird. Every time I see you fight, I feel like my heart is swelling in my chest with worry and ... something else. When you smile, which, by the way Ichigo, isn't very often, I feel like smiling, an-"

Ichigo cut her off as he gently laid his rough palm on her face, staring into her eyes. She was suddenly aware of how close he had gotten, and her heart sped up when he reached down and kissed her softly. When he pulled back, he was both smiling and blushing. Rukia's eyes were wide and her fingers reached up to dance over her lips; she could still feel the kiss lingering on them.

"Wanna be more than friends?" Ichigo asked, smirking as his hand slid from her face. Rukia didn't answer verbally, but instead, she reached up and kissed him again. It was a little clumsy, because neither knew quite what they were doing, but when she pulled back this time, she was smiling.

"Yes?"

"Good."

Ichigo backed up a little and picked up his book.

"So, can I write my report about you?" Rukia asked, her pencil making its way back between her pink lips. Ichigo smirked.

"Whatever."

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I _swear_ I was _not_ going to do another one to the **Definitions Of Love** story, but this idea came to me, and I just had to write this. : D I am really wondering what people thought of this, because personally, I don't think it'll ever live up to the first.

**_Please Review!_**


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